Announcement: High-speed policy, “now allowing” the PARENTS of third country nationals, whom have acquired or will acquire a Permanent Residency Permit in Cyprus, to reside in Cyprus without needing to comply with the investing criteria

The Ministry of Interior has recently introduced, with immediate effect as of the 22th of February, 2016, the revised high-speed policy concerning third-country nationals intending to receive an immigration permit through investing in Cyprus which now allows the applicant/s parents to also acquire permission for Permanent Residency.

In particular, according to the high-speed policy, in order for a third-country national to be entitled to make use and benefit of the aforesaid policy, it is required for the latter to have deposited in his/her account a minimum sum of €30.000, which will be blocked for a period of three (3) years. Definitely, these funds must be evidenced as accruing from abroad. In addition, the applicant must satisfy the Immigration Department that he/she has an available secured annual income from abroad of, at least, €30.000. This sum increases by €5.000 and/or €8.000 for each dependant (spouse and/or children) or ancestor dependant (parent) of the applicant or his/her spouse, accordingly, without imposing any requirement for these dependants, to satisfy the investing criteria.

Furthermore, the applicant is obliged to prove, through providing a title deed or a contract of sale duly stamped and submitted to the Lands & Surveys Department, the purchase of a property located in Cyprus of a minimum market value of €300.000, the €200.000 out of which must, at the time of the submission of the application, have already been paid. It is worth noting that the purchase of a property is duly accepted even in case the purchaser constitutes a legal person duly established under the laws of the Republic of Cyprus or of any other member-state of the European Union or the European Economic Area, provided that its sole shareholder(s) or ultimate beneficial owner(s) being the applicant and/or his/her spouse. Alternatively, the applicant may also invest by purchasing up to two housing units (houses or flats) or one housing unit and a store that does not exceed 100m2 or one housing unit and an office that does not exceed 250m2, provided that the total amount -splited for the purchase of any two properties- is at least €300.000, as described above. Please note that although contracts and agreements related to the re-sale of property concluded before 07/05/2013 are well-recognized, this is no longer valid; more explicitly, as of 07/05/2013, it is a prerequisite for the property invested thereon to be new in the sense that its first sale its conducted by a licensed real estate company to the third-country investor(s).

In support to his/her application, the applicant is also obliged to provide the Immigration Department, among others, with an original criminal record certificate for himself/herself as well as for each of his/her dependants. Moreover, the applicant and his/her spouse (if applicable) must provide a declaration indicating that they do not intend to be directly employed in the Republic of Cyprus.

Lastly, the applicant’s dependants aged between 18 – 25 years old, studying abroad (higher education), are also eligible to apply on their own, provided that their parent(s), namely the applicant(s), will indicate additional annual income of €5.000. In contrast, although adult children of the investor, not dependant on him/her, are also entitled to apply and be granted an immigration permit, they must indirectly satisfy all the criteria in the sense that the funds presented by the applicant must cover the funds and assets that proportionally correspond to his/her children in order for each of them to satisfy the collateral criteria. In principle, however, those who have acquired an immigration permit in their capacity as ‘dependants’ of the applicant, are not entitled to admit their dependants (spouses, children and/or parents) on the same permit.

Antria Aristodimou Antria is an Advocate – Legal Consultant. Antria was born in Limassol. She obtained her LL.B degree from the University of Cyprus in June 2013 and her LL.M in Maritime Law from the University of Southampton in December 2014. Antria joined our firm in July 2014 ...